Womanism in Alice Walker’s Possessing the Secret of Joy: Possibilities and Counternarratives

Bianca Borges; Naiana Galvão

doi:10.17851/1982-0739.31.1.153-173

Autores

Bianca Ribeiro Borges Universidade Federal do Norte do Tocantins (UFNT) https://orcid.org/0009-0004-0194-2195
Naiana Siqueira Galvão Universidade Federal do Norte do Tocantins (UFNT) https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7745-8173

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17851/1982-0739.31.1.153-173

Palavras-chave:

Womanism, Female Genital Mutilation, Resistance Literature

Resumo

This study examines womanism—its possibilities and contradictions—in Alice Walker’s novel Possessing The Secret of Joy (2022). It focuses on Tashi’s trajectory and her experience of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), highlighting its physical, psychological, and social consequences. The central question investigates how Walker’s narrative, considering womanist principles, fosters reflection on women’s struggles against intersectional oppressions, particularly those related to FGM, while considering identities and sociocultural contexts. The main objective is to discuss the relationship between FGM and womanism as represented in the novel. The methodology is qualitative and interpretive, emphasizing bibliographic review. The theoretical framework draws on Walker’s womanist biography (White, 2004), key foundations of womanism (Phillips, 2006; Walker, 2021), and data from the UN (2015) and the WHO (2025), alongside African counternarratives (Oyěwùmí, 2003). The findings indicate that Tashi’s journey, from a womanist perspective, enables a critical reading of resistance literature through the womanism lens.

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Biografia do Autor

Naiana Siqueira Galvão, Universidade Federal do Norte do Tocantins (UFNT)

Atualmente é professora de Língua Inglesa e Literaturas de Língua Inglesa pela Universidade Federal do Norte do Tocantins, UFNT. Especialista em Língua Inglesa e Literatura Anglo Americana pela UFT, Campus de Porto Nacional. Mestrado em Ensino de Língua e Literatura pela UFT, Campus de Araguaína. Doutora em Estudos Interdisciplinares da Literatura com especificação em Literatura Nativa Norte-Americana pela Escola de Ciências Humanas da Universidade Trás-os-Montes-e-Alto-Douro (UTAD- Portugal). Coordenadora do Laboratório de Línguas do Curso de Letras - Labell da UFNT. Professora Orientadora do Programa da Rede Andifes ISF.

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